1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a mechanism electrically connecting a body of the refrigerator with an electrical device which is mounted on a door or a part of the refrigerator movable with respect to the body of the refrigerator.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventional refrigerators are usually classified into three types, i.e., a top mount freezer type, a side by side type, and a bottom mount freezer type. In the top mount freezer type refrigerator, a freezing compartment is provided on an upper portion of the refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment is provided at a lower portion of the refrigerator. In the side by side type refrigerator, a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment are respectively arranged on a left portion and a right portion of a refrigerator. In the bottom mount freezer type refrigerator, a freezing compartment is provided on a lower portion of the refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment is provided on an upper portion of the refrigerator.
Electrical devices, such as a display panel, an ice and a water dispenser, etc., are usually provided on a door of a refrigerator. The electrical device is electrically connected with a body of the refrigerator by a conductor. The conductor supplies electrical power from a power source provided in the body of the refrigerator or sends a signal from a controller of the refrigerator and vice versa. The door and the body of the refrigerator are usually coupled by a hinge and the conductor is arranged to pass through the hinge in order to electrically connect the electrical device on the door and the body of the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, it is very uncomfortable for the user to use the freezing compartment mounted at the lower portion of the refrigerator when the door is simply open by rotating about the hinge, because the user has to kneel and bend his or her body and stretch his/her hands into an inside of the freezing compartment mounted on the lower portion of the refrigerator.